


cross my heart out

by Amber_Flicker



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe- Phantom Thief/Detective, Confessions, Dialogue Heavy, Enemies to Lovers, Enstars Shipping Olympics, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pre-Slash, background eileo but it's only one line so ignore it if you want
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-07-23 06:41:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20003974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amber_Flicker/pseuds/Amber_Flicker
Summary: A detective falls in love with a phantom thief. This, understandably, causes some issues.-ESO 2019 - Round 3 (Team Watakei)





	cross my heart out

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Masterpiece Theatre III by Marianas Trench
> 
> There's art to go with this fic! See it here: https://twitter.com/Amber_flicker/status/1160239184713592833

Everyone gathered outside in the wake of the theft. The painting was gone and, so it seemed, was Phantom. None of them had caught a glimpse of what direction he'd gone it, but that was nothing unusual. Keito turned to where the museum's owner and the artist were, trying to think of how to keep them from blowing up over their inability to protect the painting, when there was a flash of light from the roof, and everyone looked towards it. Phantom had shown up on the roof of the opposite building. Keito's eyes met his over the distance. They stared at each other for a moment, and then Phantom stepped back from the edge, and before he could even really think about what he was doing Keito was inside the building, running up the stairs. Almost like muscle memory, or instinct. 

There was a part of him that wasn't sure whether he was running to catch him or simply running _to_ him; but that's a part he consistently ignores each time they meet like this.

He opened the door to the roof and of course, Phantom was there. And he knew that he was _letting_ Keito catch up, get this close to him, but that never stops him from feeling a little pleased that he's managed to do so anyway (what else would this feeling that he got whenever they met be, after all)? 

Phantom, in his usual fashion, showers Keito in roses as soon as he steps onto the roof. How he always gets that many roses and manages to set them up to fall exactly where Keito will stand remains a mystery. "You came! Amazing!" He exclaimed, as if anyone had any doubt that he would. Even the other members of the police force didn't question it anymore.

"Don't be ridiculous. When have I ever not? Give back the painting."

"To use your words: don't be ridiculous!"

Keito stepped closer, but he didn't see the painting anywhere- not that he really expected to, and he knew from experience Phantom wouldn't let him close enough to search him. "Don't use my own words against me. Where did you put it?"

"That's for me to know and you to, hopefully, never find out~"

And their conversation was going in circles, as usual. He sighed. "Why are we here, Phantom?"

"You ask that, but you're the one who came after me!" Keito's attempt to reply is cut short when Phantom reaches towards him and brushes some of the rose petals out of his hair. "I think you like talking to me as much as I like talking to you, my fated rival."

"I- I do _not-"_ he said, feeling his cheeks heat up, but Phantom just smiled that damn enigmatic smile at him.

"I'm not quite sure I believe you. In any case, it's time to make my exit."

"Wait-" 

"Goodnight, Keito-kun," and then he disappeared in his usual puff of smoke, leaving Keito on the roof, still thinking about what had just happened. Or, more accurately, how he'd reacted. And suddenly things from the last few months clicked into place.

 _Oh no,_ Keito thought. _I'm in love with him._

(At the same time, Wataru thought: _Oh no, I'm in love with him._ )

***

"Boss, are you staying late?" Kiryu asked, after knocking on the frame of the open door of Keito's office.

"What?" 

"It's 2am."

Keito almost protested, but then he looked down at his watch, and it was in fact 2:10am. Meaning he'd been doing paperwork regarding the heist for almost two hours now, when it should've taken half that. It just went to show how distracted he'd been, that this work is suffering and he was losing all track of time. "So it is. I need to finish this, but you should go home. I'm sure you're the only one still here, anyway."

"Yeah. Kanzaki wanted to stay until you were done, but I made him leave 'cause he was falling asleep at his desk." Keito nodded- that behavior is to be expected from Kanzaki- and took a glance at his report. It was only half finished. There'd probably be typos, too, if the program didn't have autocorrect. "Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You're usually done with this stuff pretty quickly... and I had to knock twice before you realized I was here."

Was he that obvious? If he couldn't hide it from his subordinates than how was he ever meant to hide it from Phantom? "Just feeling more tired than usual. Don't worry about it."

Kiryu looked at him for a moment, like he didn't quite believe that, but he let it go. "If you say so. Don't stay up all night again, we don't need a repeat of last time."

"I'll do my best."

After Kiryu left, he ended up spending another forty-five minutes on the report before getting it to a satisfactory level. If it had taken any longer he probably would've just stayed at the office for the night- there was a reason he had a couch in the corner, and it certainly wasn't because anyone else on the task force was enough of a workaholic to need it. But he decided he'd rather contemplate his newly discovered _issue_ in the privacy of his own home.

What was he even supposed to do with this realization? How had this even happened? Phantom was infuriating; he always seemed to slip away just before he could catch him, he seemed to take pleasure in specifically targeting Keito- after all, half his heist notices were sent directly to Keito, or even asked for him by name, not to mention how he always lured him away from the rest of the officers during heists just to talk to him alone... which was likely exactly what led to this disaster. He shouldn't have let himself spend so much one-on-one time with a criminal. 

Maybe Phantom had been aware of his feelings before Keito himself had realized them, and had done this on purpose, to throw him off during heists. It wasn't as if he'd never flirted with him before, after all, so he wasn't sure why tonight had been what made everything click. Had this all been yet another elaborate plan to mess with Keito? He couldn't ask that outright, on the off chance that he was wrong. Admitting to having fallen for Phantom would be... bad.

Even if it hadn't been planned, nothing about this was ideal. You weren't supposed to fall in love with people you were trying to catch. It would distract him during cases. Even if he confessed and somehow Phantom did return his feelings, it wasn't like they could be in a relationship. Keito didn't even know his identity. Phantom wasn't going to give up being a thief and Keito wasn't going to give up being a detective. How would they be able to trust each other?

Despite his promise to Kiryu, he didn't end up getting much sleep that night.

***

"Stop laughing," Keito said, scowling. This had been a bad idea.

Eichi did, but not until a minute later. "It's just- _you,_ falling in love with the person you're always complaining about."

"Yes, I'm aware of the irony."

"It's not necessarily a bad thing, though," he replied, finally getting around to pouring his tea (which he'd been distracted from when he started laughing about Keito's predicament).

"How is this anything less than a disaster?"

"You need to have more of a love life, Keito, I've been saying it for years!"

"You hardly have room to talk, considering how many relationship disasters you've had," Keito said. He'd say that at least being married to his work didn't bring him love issues, but that would be a blatant lie, considering what they were talking about. Perhaps Eichi hadn't been the best person to talk about this with. But he'd noticed something was bothering Keito as soon as they met at their usual cafe. That was the issue with having childhood friends: they knew you too well.

"That was then, this is now! Leo and I are doing very well I'll have you know-"

"Yes, yes, you don't need to go into a rant about him now," best to stop him before he started. "The point is that I need to get rid of my feelings, not act on them."

Eichi gave him a look- the one he gave when he thought Keito has said something especially stupid. "One doesn't just _get rid of_ feelings, Keito."

Oh, didn't he know. This would all be solved already if he could. It almost made him wish he didn't have emotions at all- then he wouldn't be dealing with these sorts of problems. "Well, I don't exactly have many options here."

"Would it really be so bad to be in love with him?" Eichi asked, and Keito would think it was a joke if he didn't sound so serious.

"I'd lose my job, Eichi," Not to mention everything else wrong with falling for the man he was supposed to catch. He'd worked too hard to get this position to lose it over something like this. He could always request to be moved off the task force and work in a different division, but that felt too much like running away from his problems.

"Surely you could make some sort of compromise..."

 _"Making compromises_ is how detectives go corrupt, you know."

"Don't be so dramatic, Keito. You're not going to go corrupt because you're in love with a criminal."

"It doesn't matter. It's not like I plan on telling him, anyway." He checked the time. "My break is almost over, I need to get back." 

"If you must. But I really think you should put more consideration into telling him how you feel, you know."

As he walked back to the station, he already knew he'd be putting more thought into it whether he wanted to or not. 

***

"I'm afraid my choice of career has backfired on me, Eichi!"

"How so?" Eichi asked, setting down his tea. He'd known about Wataru's _side job_ since early on, and he assumed it must be about that- Wataru had never complained about his acting career, after all.

"I've found myself a little more attached to my detective than I expected."

This conversation was going down a familiar route. "You mean Keito?"

"You don't seem all that surprised. Could it be you noticed before I did?"

"You could say that," it wouldn't be right for him to give away what Keito told him in confidence, but that wouldn't stop him from perhaps meddling a bit. He knew both of them well enough to know that neither of them would act if he didn't. "So you've fallen for Keito, then?"

"They simply had to assign someone attractive to my case! Could I be expected not to?" Wataru pulled a container out of- somewhere- and poured some sort of weird concoction into his tea before he took a sip. Eichi didn't ask what it was- he likely wouldn't get a straight answer and he wasn't actually sure he wanted to know.

"If I recall correctly, you flirt with him all the time, and you're the one who kept sending heist notes directly to him-"

"As one does-"

"-So you can't exactly blame him for being made lead detective on your case?"

"Well, no one warned me about the risk of _feelings!"_ Wataru scattered roses around at this, and the passing maid sighed. (He does this sort of thing every time he visits- they're used to it. That doesn't mean any of the staff enjoy cleaning it up, however.)

"Are there guide books for phantom thieves, I wonder? _How Not to Fall in Love with the Man Trying to Arrest You,_ and such..."

"Well, it's far too late for that now, in any case."

"What do you plan to do about it?"

Wataru laughed. "Nothing, of course! He certainly doesn't return the feeling, and it's much too risky to do anything about it even if he did."

"You've never been one to care about risks before, Wataru."

He didn't reply right away; it was unusual, usually he always has some prepared reply or can improvise easily. Then again, they didn't often have this sort of conversation. Wataru had never been one to talk about how he actually felt, even to Eichi, and it's clear he's being a lot more careful with what he does and doesn't say because of it. Finally, he said, "Risking things during heists is one thing, but it's altogether different to risk something so personal."

It's a concept Eichi was familiar with- after all, he risks his health on a regular basis despite all the warnings, but he spent most of his life avoiding personal connections (or destroying them). He didn't want two people he cared about making that mistake, not when he could do something about it. Risks and other factors aside, both Wataru and Keito would regret it if nothing came of this. (And if that happened he was going to have to listen to the both of them lamenting about it for years.)

"Perhaps that risk would be worth it."

***

Exactly as he predicted, Keito found himself thinking on his conversation with Eichi (and this whole disaster in general) a lot over the next week. In fact, that was exactly what he was doing when Fushimi entered his office. He pretended he was doing the paperwork he was supposed to have been doing. It wouldn't do to be caught slacking off by his subordinates- not that he was at risk of losing his position, considering Phantom wouldn't even show up to a heist unless Keito was there, but it was the principal of the matter. He'd been doing far too much thinking and not enough working lately.

"Detective, a heist notice was left here this morning," Fushimi said, handing it to him over the desk. Of course. Just when he was thinking he should stop being distracted by him, the thief made it so he had no choice but to think about him.

"Forensics came back with the usual, I assume?"

Fushimi nodded. "No evidence."

"Thank you. I'll gather everyone once I've put a plan together."

Once he was alone in his office again, he read over the note.

_National Art Center. 22:00. One short day._

Well, at least this time they'd been given a location- that always made it significantly easier to figure out the target. Keito put aside his emotional turmoil and got to work, trying not to worry about what he was going to do when they faced each other tonight.

***

21:00 found the task force setting up at the location- futile as most of them know these efforts are, considering they never even get close to catching Phantom. The Smithsonian was having a travelling exhibit set up in the National Art Center for tomorrow only, and the center of the display was the Chalk Emerald. From the clues in the note this was the only thing he could've been talking about, so here they were. He just hoped his compartmentalizing skills held up tonight. He couldn't afford to slip up just because of his emotions. Keito refused to let this get in the way of his job.

"Boss, we've finished locking down all the other levels of the museum. The museum has all their own security measures in place too."

Keito had been so lost in thought that he almost jumped at suddenly being addressed. "Ah. And do we have officers positioned at all entries and exits?"

"We've got Himemiya and Fushimi around the back and Kanzaki and Otogari stationed at the front. Me and Isara'll be around the exhibit."

"Alright, good. Thank you, Kiryu," at least one of them was doing their job properly. He hated how distracted he'd been lately. Damn feelings. There was no solution but to push through it- he couldn't confess and they couldn't be together, even if Phantom did return the sentiment. He'd been over this in his head multiple times. And yet.

They had nothing left to do but wait, now. Nothing but time to think about how much he didn't want to confront Phantom tonight. And that's exactly what he did up until the time came.

"One minute," he announced, and everyone went on high alert. "Thirty seconds..."

The lights went out.

Everything was silent for a moment, like the world had paused just to await Phantom's entry. This was normal. This was how it always went, but for some reason he found himself holding his breath.

"You haven't learned anything after all this time, hmm?" The lights didn't come back on the way they usually did (Phantom was never one to miss out on a chance for dramatics, and not being able to be seen kind of ruined that), "Try to make it more difficult for me next time, Keito-kun," he said, and it was only then he realized Phantom was right next to him, the way his voice came from so close, quiet enough that he could tell the words were only meant for him. He reached out and grasped onto- nothing. The lights came back on, the emerald was gone, and someone shouted something about finding Phantom, but it was too late. Keito almost didn't believe it was over so quickly. He'd... gotten used to there being more to their meetings than this, more theatrics, more chasing, more conversation. Not a couple of sentences and a disappearing act without a real appearance.

They searched the upper levels, but Keito knew there was no point. Phantom wasn't going to be waiting to confront him tonight. He wasn't sure how he knew- instinct? The subtle differences in tonight's heist?- but he was sure that Phantom was long gone.

He wasn't sure why that disappointed him.

***

"What do you mean, you got _nervous?"_

Wataru allowed himself to wince a little at that, considering no one was around to see him. He briefly wondered is he should've called one of his other friends instead, but he knew Rei and Natsume had been busy recently, Shu didn't like to be involved in anything related to his night job, and Kanata would tell him he had been an idiot for backing out last minute. Eichi was the one who had helped with tonight's confession plan, anyway. Which was likely the reason he was so exasperated right now.

"Exactly what I said!"

"You went through all the trouble of getting that specific ring! It was a very simple plan!"

"Well, confessing to the man who's been trying to arrest you for a year isn't easy," There was a much bigger chance of it all going wrong than there was of it going right, and it wasn't like when things didn't go according to plan other times. This was far more personal, and if Keito didn't accept his feelings then he couldn't pretend that was what he'd meant to happen, or play it off as being no big deal. Wataru wasn't used to making himself this vulnerable.

"That's why you had a _plan,_ Wataru," Eichi said, then sighed. "Okay, are you going to be trying again, or have you decided not to confess at all?"

"Ah! I'm glad you asked! Here's what I was thinking...."

***

Keito came home to find the door unlocked and a note on his table that he knew hadn't been there before. He knew even before getting close enough to read it who had left it- the size and shape of the note was the same as the ones he'd been examining for months, after all.

_Setagaya Public Theatre. Thursday. 00:00. Come alone. Don't disappoint me, Keito-kun~_

It was... surprisingly straightforward, compared to how Phantom's notes usually were. He'd wonder if it was from an imposter if he wasn't so familiar with everything about the notes. He stared at it for a while, contemplating it's contents, and whether or not it was worth following the instructions.

He spent another sleepless night on it before he came to a decision.

***

He was... hesitant, to show up as requested. It went against all his training to show up to something like this without any backup- without telling anyone where he's going. But it was unlikely Phantom was going to turn violent when he'd never been before. Keito wasn't _really_ putting himself at risk by meeting with him. Or maybe that was his feelings talking. Either way, he was here now, so it was too late to back out.

The theatre was empty. There weren't any shows going on so late, so he'd expected at least the auditorium to be empty, but there weren't even any workers around. The door had been unlocked, though, and if anyone asked he could just say he was with the police and was investigating a lead. He was, in a way. He quickly runs into the rose petals scattered across the floor. They lead him through the halls, past the dressing rooms, all the way backstage. He hesitated there. The lights are on on the stage, and the trail of petals goes out to the middle. Clearly that's where Phantom planned to meet him but the whole situation feels... different, than when he's searching for him during a heist. Maybe it was the setting, or they way he'd been led to the particular spot, or how he'd been asked to come alone. But suddenly he felt nervous in a way he didn't, usually.

"Do you plan to hide in the shadows all night after coming all this way, Keito-kun?"

Phantom was standing there when he looked up. He took a breath and stepped out on to the stage. "Why are we here, Phantom?"

"Ah, right to the point as usual!" There was something undeniably fond in his voice, but Keito didn't get the time to think about why before Phantom got down on one knee and. What was happening here. What the fuck.

"Phanto-"

"My fated rival, would you do me the honor of becoming my lifelong rival?" Phantom pulled out a ring and offered it to Keito, and through his confusion he realized it was the same ring Phantom stole less than a week ago.

Keito opened his mouth. Nothing came out. He tried again. No words even came to mind to deal with... this. Phantom start laughing at some point. Had he really gone to all this effort just to mess with Keito?

"You're overthinking it," he said as he stood up again. Phantom reached out to take Keito's hand, looking him in the eye the whole time. "I'd actually intended to give this to you the night I stole it."

"What... what stopped you?" He was still on edge, not sure exactly what was going on here.

"I wonder," is his only reply. Keito wanted to tell him this was no time to be enigmatic, but Phantom took a step closer, and something in his expression made him pause. "I recently... came to some conclusions, and after some thinking I've decided it's best to come out and say it."

"Say what?"

"Keito-kun, I'm in love with you. Will you accept my feelings?" Keito didn't realize Phantom still had his hand until he put the ring into it as he said this.

He couldn't help but think this must all be some elaborate trick- that Phantom had discovered he feelings and decided to use them against him, as out of character as that would be from their past interactions- or that he must be dreaming. There was no way they both felt the same, was there? "I..."

"Do you not trust me, still?" Phantom asked, voice unusually empty. "Or do you simply not return my feelings?"

"It's just... I'm just.. Processing."

"If me returning the emerald wasn't enough proof, do you want me to take off the mask?"

Keito stared at him, waiting for him to take it back. He didn't. "You'd do that? Just to prove yourself? What if I used it against you?"

"One takes risks for love, do they not?"

Phantom... trusted him enough to reveal his identity, even with no reassurance that Keito wouldn't reveal it to the rest of the police force and use it to arrest him. He cared enough about making sure Keito knew he was being sincere to do that. To return a stolen item when he'd never done such a thing before. He thought back on all their interactions over the past few months. How fixated Phantom had been on him and vice versa. He hadn't realized how much he thought about the thief even before he'd noticed he'd fallen for him. They'd been doing this dance around each other for months and it was only now hitting him.

"I love you too," his voice came out quiet, like it was a confession only to be heard by Phantom, despite how they were alone here.

And then Phantom is kissing him, almost desperately, and he can't help kissing back in the same manner. How long had they both been pining over each other, without having any idea the other felt the same, or even knowing how they themselves felt? Weeks, months? Too long. They stay like that for a least a few minutes before breaking apart, breathless.

"Wataru," Phantom said.

"Hmm?"

"Hibiki Wataru. My name," and then he took off the mask, and all Keito could think was that he's even more beautiful than he was before, how nice it is to finally see him as he is.

"Wataru," he said, testing the name out, "Wataru, will you go on a proper date with me? Not one of the heist variety?"

Ph- _Wataru_ smiled at him, more genuine than any Keito had ever seen from him, and replied, "My dear Keito-kun, I thought you'd never ask."

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted a phantom thief/detective watakei AU and no one else was writing it so I had to make it myself... 
> 
> This actually turned out about 2k words longer than I expected it to? I also have. A lot of ideas for this AU that never made it into the fic, so this may become a series at some point. Also I just want you to know that the placeholder title for this was 'Wataru and Keito being gay disasters'
> 
> Other notes:  
> -Keito, hearing Wataru's alias for the first time: what kind of phantom thief just calls himself Phantom? What gave him the right to take that name over all the other phantom thieves? Why does he get to be lazy about his alias-
> 
> -Wataru picked that ring specifically because it matched the color of Keito's eyes.
> 
> -The clue in the first heist note was a reference to the song of the same name from Wicked, which is about the Emerald City. Wataru's phantom thief name is a reference to Phantom of the Opera. Don't @ me I had to put musical references in there
> 
> Amber_flicker on Twitter, amber-flicker/a-logicalruse on tumblr


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